The recent college admissions scandal reveals a profound lack of ethics and morality among those who cheated to secure prestigious positions for their children. Wealthy individuals, including celebrities, paid bribes ranging from thousands to millions of dollars to ensure their children's admission into elite universities such as Yale, Georgetown, Stanford, and USC. They collaborated with a consultant, William Rick Singer, who facilitated these bribes to coaches, falsely presenting the students as athletic recruits despite their lack of skills or experience. Additionally, they manipulated standardized test scores by paying test administrators to correct answers or provide unfair accommodations, such as extended time under false pretenses of learning disabilities. This cheating was not just a shortcut; it was a deliberate act to place their children within the establishment, the ruling class, using money and influence to bypass integrity. Such actions reflect a desperate desire to be part of the privileged elite, teaching their children not values, but the corrupt means to achieve superficial success.

God warns that cheating through false weights and measures is a grave sin, reflecting defiance and hatred toward Him as the righteous Judge. He commands the use of honest scales and weights, as seen in Leviticus 19:35-36, emphasizing that standards like the ephah and hin must remain unchanged in the marketplace to prevent injustice. Tampering with these physical standards signifies a prior corruption of moral standards, leading to unrighteousness and bondage in society. When sellers manipulate scales, especially in transactions involving precious metals like gold and silver, they exploit the trust of buyers, making it easier to deceive those who are not vigilant. Such actions are not merely economic fraud but a spiritual affront, falsely implying that God Himself disregards justice. Cheating through dishonest weights often benefits professional sellers who control the scales, giving them an advantage over buyers unfamiliar with the trade. Historical practices, like watering stock in the 19th century United States, demonstrate human ingenuity in deceit, paralleling modern corporate tactics that dilute value for profit. God links the ownership of scales with His sovereignty, viewing those who control them as judges under His authority. To misuse this position by cheating is to bear false witness against God's character, suggesting He is indifferent to justice or manipulates for His own ends, an accusation akin to satan's lies about God's role as Judge. The Bible equates tampering with scales to theft through fraud, a direct violation of trust and a serious moral evil. When authorities ignore such deceit, honest individuals suffer while dishonest ones prosper, reversing God's standards of ethical dominion and reducing market efficiency as buyers must expend extra effort to verify transactions. God will not tolerate this behavior indefinitely, promising judgment against those who cheat, as He is the sovereign deliverer who freed Israel from bondage and retains the power to return them to it for economic sins. Debasement of currency, akin to false weights, is another form of cheating that defies God's law. Isaiah 1:22 illustrates this with the metaphor of silver becoming dross, indicating a familiar practice of mixing base metals with precious ones, thus devaluing currency. Historical examples, such as coin clipping in Anglo-Saxon England and during Henry II's reign, show how debasing currency through substitution or shaving off metal led to inflation and loss of trust. Such acts, treated as severely as counterfeiting, were punished harshly, yet the practice persisted across ages. Debasement is not only theft but also idolatry, as it prioritizes material gain over God's authority, breaking multiple commandments. Those who debase currency attempt to usurp God's role, reflecting a corrupt heart, as Jesus Christ taught that actions stem from the heart's treasure. God's judgment, depicted as a refining fire in Ezekiel 22:17-22, will purge such dross from individuals and nations, burning away moral corruption if repentance does not occur. Isaiah's accusations against Judah's leaders for allowing debased money and corrupt judgment reveal a society mirroring its rulers' sins, a pattern of moral and economic decay that invites divine wrath.

Exodus 20:15 commands simply and bluntly, You shall not steal. This commandment affirms God's mind regarding the right to private property, declaring that no one has the right granted by Him to take another's property without lawful permission. It stands in stark contrast to ideologies that deny individual ownership, as God asserts that the earth is His and all its fullness, giving it to whom He pleases and extending the right to all to work lawfully for their own property. This commandment covers much more than mere thievery; it includes deliberate and accidental damage to another's property, as well as fraudulent retention through carelessness or indifference. It questions whether wealth was acquired fairly in business and if the rules have been unlawfully tilted to favor the privileged, allowing them to steal from the powerless. God demands clearly set and well-advertised standards, expecting people to conform to them, and condemns secretive business thievery that takes advantage of the unwary. Ephesians 4:28 charges, Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Stealing runs against the grain of God's way of life, as a person not only steals by taking another's possessions but also by refusing to work hard and honestly to share with others in need. Get-rich-quick schemes, cutting corners for personal gain, and taking unfair advantage of another's ignorance will ultimately destroy the perpetrator, as they break the spirit of this commandment. God admonishes those who resort to violence to steal that they will be caught in the net of their own evil schemes. Their deliberate choice of evil means to achieve wealth saps their willpower to live honestly. Stealing, like other grave sins, profanes God's name, and as His children, we must bring honor upon it by living according to His standards.